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Excavations at Tepecik Mound, which was a trade center in the Late Bronze Age, revealed a building used as a palace or temple in the 13th century BC and grain jars.Located in a fertile plain in Aydin, Türkiye, Tepecik Mound continues to be excavated under the direction of Prof. Dr. Sevinç Günel from the Department of Archaeology at Hacettepe University in 2004. According to the results obtained, the mound was inhabited until 7,500 years ago and agricultural products and obsidian were traded. During this year’s excavations uncovered a palace or temple-like structure and a granary with grain jars.The remains inside...

Three Christian murder victims were brutally tortured for hours before their death, Turkish media reports reveal. The Islamic zealots who attacked a Christian publishing house in the city of Malatya on April 18 prolonged the suffering of their victims by stabbing them repeatedly with dull knives, the media report. A Sabah newspaper story notes that one victim, the German missionary Tilman Geske, suffered 156 knife wounds. An AsiaNews correspondent notes that the Turkish media have provided gruesome details of the crime, but still shy away from mentioning the motivation of the killers, who were apparently influenced by a vitriolic anti-Christian...

SNIPPET: "ISTANBUL, February 12 (CDN) -- An Istanbul court has ordered the release of a jailed Turk who publicly threatened and held a knife to the throat of a Christian he attacked six months ago. In a ruling on Wednesday (Feb. 10), the Kadikoy Seventh Court of First Instance convicted Yasin Karasu, 24, of making death threats and mounting an armed attack against Ismail Aydin. Shouting to attract passersby as he held a knife to Aydin's throat on Aug. 3, Karasu had denounced the Christian as a "missionary dog" who had betrayed Turkey by leaving Islam and evangelizing others."

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...